Those of us who love and have dogs, often pay a great deal of attention to their physical well being. Sometimes, however, we forget that dogs are driven by their noses. We walk them, run with them, and play fetch or Frisbee with them. Our dogs are happy we offer all this exercise, but sometimes they just want to sniff their world.
Humans are mostly sight driven, so we can forget to acknowledge the incredible investigative powerhouse sitting at the tip of every dog’s snout. There are up to 300 million olfactory receptors in a dog’s nose, compared to about 6 million is a human nose. Additionally, dogs have a proportionately larger part of their brain dedicated to analyzing smells. According to Alexandra Horowitz in her book Inside of a Dog, we might be able to smell whether or not our cup of coffee has sugar in it. A dog, on the other hand, could smell a teaspoon of sugar in a million gallons of water—which is equal to two Olympic-sized swimming pools!
Canines also have a special organ called Jacobson’s organ, which is at the bottom of their nasal passage. This organ detects pheromones and other chemical compounds. Thanks in part to this organ, dogs can sniff out things like drugs, cancer, bombs, bed-bugs, cadavers, wildlife scat, and even contraband electronics.
Why is this important?
We’ve all seen it—an owner is pulling at their dog that has stopped to sniff something on the ground, or around the neighborhood fire-hydrant. The owner wants to walk but the dog wants to sniff and learn everything it can about its environment. When the owner pulls a dog away from a scent, it’s like having someone take away the murder mystery you are reading just before you get to the part that tells you who-done-it!
A dog sniffs to learn about other dogs in the neighborhood, including their age, sex and health. It also sniffs to learn what other wildlife scampered through the back yard the previous night and where the best places are to eliminate in order to leave the dog’s own unique olfactory message. The act of sniffing on a walk is an exercise in communication. The scents the dog picks up, not only from other dogs, but also from the environment, are providing mental exercise, which is as important as the physical stimulation provided by the walk.
So, a successful dog walk will be a balance of healthy walking with a good dose of unimpeded sniffing. Your dog will be tired physically and mentally, which will make for a relaxed, happy and grateful canine companion.
